MrSeedy
June 25th, 2008, 10:01 AM
Oh well, in typical fashion , I was checking my large pink flowered Weigela a few years ago and found a "layer" voluneer , which I removed and potted up for a future use of some sort. Being it was a branch weighed down by overhanging ones overhead, it grew almost horizontal and with a slight downward turn. For some reason the thought it might be a perfect start for a "cascade" style bonsai a0pealed to me, though I've not even dabbled in the bonsai for several years, nor do I know all the tricks of the best way to "wire"?, etc. and perhaps even the proper pruning to get the shape I'd want. At any rate, not knowing what I'd do with it for sure, and it having outgrown the somewaht small pot, into the ground it went. At least temporarily. Of course once in the ground with nothing growing over it, it chose to resume it's normal growth habit and up came a very sturdy new verticle leader , which I should have removed with the "cascade" still in mind? Anyway, having found that neighbor who likes to "dabble" in the bonsai, it's possiible he may want that plant for his collection , despite the fact it will start out a fairly large specimen for a starting bonsai, so I took the step of removing that verticle shoot as closelly as possible, and one odd brahch pointing downward below the main leader I'd like to remain so in the future. Now the next step might be to prune all those secondary branches off the main stem , but how far back, with future development in mind. I do realize the quesstion may be a hard one to answer without a photo to see the exact shape and relative size of the plant? Time to find a good bonsai site perhaps , or to invest in a good bonsai book. I guess there are techniques for wiring the branches that work best, and also when those wires must be readjusted from time to time til they're removed eventually, and so that the stems don't grow right over or are damaged by the overly thight wire as those stems naturally get thicker as they grow and age. Oh well, at any rate , a somewhat long post , though the topic can be a long one and I've only scratched the surface with all the possible qulestions.